Why do Cheerleaders counts 5,6,7,8 and not 1,2,3

Question

Why do Cheerleaders counts 5,6,7,8 and not 1,2,3

In: 871

Answer 1

Because cheerleading is a form of dance rather than music, and dancers’ ‘phrases’ are often 8 beats long rather than 4.

Both musicians & dancers use the previous 4 beats to count off before a start; it’s just that musicians’ previous 4 were 1…2…3…4 and dancers’ previous 4 were 5…6…7…8.